1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for teaching music to a student or a group of students. More particularly, the present invention relates to a teaching method in which an instructor's manual operation of a musical instrument controls the illumination of guide lamps and a musical score display on each student's musical instrument. The instructor can visually indicate notes to the students or even guide the students through a musical performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Learning music can be demanding for a beginning student. He must not only learn the language of music (treble clef, C note, etc.), but how the language relates to the instrument that he has chosen. For example, if the student has chosen to learn music on a keyboard instrument, he must learn the relationship between the notes to be played and the keys on the keyboard. To achieve this level of understanding can be very daunting and time-consuming. Furthermore, if the student wishes to apply his understanding to play a musical performance, he must at a minimum learn which notes to play, when to play the notes and how long to hold the notes.
One conventional teaching method utilizes a musical instrument having a performance guidance function to instruct the player. In this method, the student selects stored data of a musical performance to be played on the instrument. If the instrument is a keyboard instrument, the performance guidance function of the instrument indicates which keys are to be operated, thereby guiding the student through the performance.
The keys to be operated can be indicated by a row of light emitting diodes (LEDs) or guide lamps arranged adjacent to the keys of the keyboard. Each guide lamp corresponds to a given key. As the musical performance to be played progresses, the guide lamps corresponding to the notes to be played are sequentially illuminated. The sequential illumination of the guide lamps informs the student which notes to play, when to play the notes and how long to hold the notes. Some instruments, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,337,433, further indicate which finger of which hand should be used to operate a designated key.
The keys to be operated can also be indicated through a liquid crystal display (LCD) placed adjacent to the keys. The display can display a score of the musical performance or, alternatively, a drawing of the keyboard as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,273. The drawing highlights the keys to be depressed during the musical performance. A scrolling function allows the student to know when to depress and release the keys as the performance proceeds.
Although performance guidance functions such as guide lamps and a score display can teach a student to play a musical performance, the teaching method is limited to individual instruction by following guide lamps which are illuminated under control of stored performance data. The student teaches himself or herself to play the musical performance by following the automated guide lamps or the score display. The teaching method does not involve teaching by a human instructor, but instead replaces the instructor.
A conventional method that allows for teaching a group of students is disclosed at www.thevisualizer.com. The method involves the use of a large display device with a connection to a MIDI keyboard instrument. The display device displays a portion of a keyboard and a score and can be placed in front of a class of students by the teacher. When the teacher plays a note, the display device indicates the played note by highlighting in some manner the key corresponding to the note and indicating the note on the score display. The students must look at the display device and then look down at their respective keyboards to depress the key indicated by the display device. Although such a display is useful to provide an indicator of keys to be depressed, it is difficult to look up at the display and then look down at the keyboard to play a note, repeat the process for the next note and so on.
Thus, the conventional method utilizing instruments with a performance guidance function is based on automated self-instruction and precludes teaching by a human instructor, while the conventional method for group teaching is cumbersome.